ENCOUNTERS

This week has been a hectic one with something pencilled into my diary every day.    Monday started off really unusually.   I had been to a Rose Society talk a couple of months ago where we raised money for a young 18 year chap with Fanconi's disease who is confined to his home because of the fear of getting germs.  Fanconi's is similar to Aplastic Aneamia where the blood does not work properly and he is waiting for a bone marrow transplant.   Patients are very susceptable to picking up any germs going around.

The idea was to send him on a computer course to help him alleviate the boredom as he was suffering from depression.

I have a friend who worked at St Nicholas who also has Aplastic Aneamia and is also sitting at home waiting for a bone marrow transplant.   Long story short I arranged for the two to meet.   Lynn and I went to Shane's home where he lives with his grandmother.    They were very polite but we got the impression he had been forced to meet with us and that he was not at all interested.   He was negative about everything.   He has a gothic look with long hair parted in the middle which hides his very white face and dark sad eyes.  

Lynn is just such a positive person.  She was only diagnosed at the age of 23 and is now 28.   She is planning on having a child after the bone marrow transplant and has been advised to harvest her eggs in case the treatment makes her infertile.    She is a very sick person but does everything possible to keep on top of the disease.  

The young guy on the other hand is a very angry young man.   He was diagnosed at the age of 4 and was told he would be dead at age 16.   He was sick of being prodded and probed and at the age of 13 he stopped going to doctors and stopped all medication.   The miracle is that he is still alive!   The only power he has over his very domineering grandmother is to refuse any treatment.   We were astonished.   Lynn became very agry with him because he was so negative about everything and had still managed to live for 5 years without medication.   The question is has he got the disease after all !!!!   He has never seen a haemotologist nor an oncologist.  

Shane's grandmother had to leave us for a while and the difference in the young guy was amazing.   He became more animated.   He and Lynn spoke geek talk about computers.   They both love shopping on line.   They both use Skype to communicate.   Lynn's user name is 'Bouncing Tigger' - very aptly named and -wait for it- Shane's user name is 'The Grim Reaper'!!!!

I hope that a little bit of Lynn's positivity rubs off on Shane and that he continues to live but with a more positive attitude.

For me it was an encounter of a really unusual nature and made me stop and think..   Here I am at sixty something and in very good health and these very young people with their whole lives in front of them were discussing what they want at their funerals.   I could die before them but statistically, if they do not get bone marrow transplants, they will die soon.

I cant give bone marrow because I am too old but if you are reading this and you are younger than 50 please consider having your bone marrow checked out.   There are thousands of people waiting for transplants.

SEEDS

The Gospel this Sunday was the 'Sower of the Seeds' and I found it very interesting even after hearing it for the sixty first time in my life.   This year one of my New Year's resolutions was to try and walk closer to Jesus in my spiritual journey.   My question has always been why are we here on earth?
We are given the Penny Catechism version ' To know God, to love God and to listen to God in this life so that we may be with Him in Heaven eventually'.   It was so simple then!

One thing I do miss about St Nicholas is the spiritual journey.   There are people from all denominations and they are at different stages of their walk with Jesus.   I admire the people who have had this amazing revelation and accepted God into their lives and are completely changed.   I envy the people who talk about Jesus as their personal friend.   The person I enjoy the most though is Angus Buchan.  He obviously walks very close to God yet he is so humble and makes things so clear.   You can open his Farmer's Journal at any given day and its message will be relevant to that day.

The other book I enjoy is 'Shelter from the Storn' - a book that Anthony van Velden introduced me to.   That is also a very relevant and insightful book.   Why do I not find the Bible 'relevant and insightful'?   Why can I not just sit down and read it and get joy and understanding from it?   This is a major difficulty for me.   I want to walk closer to both God and Jesus.   I want to know more about the Holy Spirit.   I know for a fact that they play a significant role in my life, I just have to hold Matthew in my arms and see his beautiful face to know that.    I just have to look at my life and see how blessed I am in every way to know that.   Yet I want to walk closer.   I need to walk closer and I do not know how.

What seeds have I planted?   Have they grown and produced results?   Do I walk the talk?   
I wonder!